I've said it once and I'll say it again: After 17 years of snowboarding, and about 5 skiing before that, I had a collision with my buddy that left me unable to formulate complete sentences for 3 weeks. I'm not trying to start a debate, cause I know the anti-helmet numb nuts are out there, but WEAR A FUCKING HELMET FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

I've said it once and I'll say it again: After 17 years of snowboarding, and about 5 skiing before that, I had a collision with my buddy that left me unable to formulate complete sentences for 3 weeks. I'm not trying to start a debate, cause I know the anti-helmet numb nuts are out there, but WEAR A FUCKING HELMET FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

I've had about 7 concussions in my life from football and baseball (collisions at the plate and hit the helmet a few times), so I grabbed a helmet first thing so I didn't turn out to be Muhammad Ali by age 40...

I've said it once and I'll say it again: After 17 years of snowboarding, and about 5 skiing before that, I had a collision with my buddy that left me unable to formulate complete sentences for 3 weeks. I'm not trying to start a debate, cause I know the anti-helmet numb nuts are out there, but WEAR A FUCKING HELMET FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

yeah, that was a no-brainer when I started riding. But hey, the helmet-less guys look pretty steezy so there's that.

Going through glades at snowshoe I got too much speed and the trees got too tight so I tried to bail out the back before I got to this one tree but ending up catching the mother fucker with my front thigh at 10-15 mph. leg was dead for two days and I had a dinner plate size bruise for a month afterwards. Im pretty sure I was about a newton from snapping my femur.

When I was younger, maybe 11-12, I was on a church ski trip (for the babes of course) and tried to tail press over one of those orange plastic fences (it was down, flat on the ground) and basically fucked it right up, caught my nose on the bitch at speed and catapulted my face right into the hard pack, board continued over my back, popping every vertebrae in the process and I ending up laying on my back. After I spent 10-15 minutes groaning on the side of the run I determined everything was ok and rode down the hill only to be laughed at by the aforementioned "church babes" due to the how swollen and grotesque my face had become. All my bros gave me credit for walking it off though, bros before hoes.

I'm not going to read a lot of the responses. I wasn't even going to share my story. But the last few have involved helmets.

I had an extremely bad crash, it ended my snowboarding career. I didn't visit this website for years because of it. I don't know what happened. It was spring riding. I remember stopping at the top of the park, adjusting my earbuds, messing with my iPod and the start of my drop in. Nothing after.

I've been told that I hit the kicker, landed (quite nicely, I guess) but then immediately hit a puddle of slush I didn't know about at the bottom of the kicker and went for a ride. So much of a ride that I went tumbling a few hundred feet, hitting my skull on a rail and bashing it open... and kept going. I knocked myself out, and pissed myself. Once I stopped, I got up and I tried to continue snowboarding down the hill and passed out on my face about 50ft later according to a buddy of mine.

I woke up in the hospital with way too many IV's, my head and legs covered in blood. I suffered a concussion and had to get staples to keep my head closed. I also had kidney failure. I was pissing blood for weeks. (hence why i woke up with my legs covered in blood). I had to go in for dialysis a couple times a week for months. Broken bones, all that shit. It sucked.

The medical bills are still being paid off, thanks to no medical insurance.

A helmet wouldn't have kept me from a lot of that... but I wouldn't have bashed my skull open. Who knows, maybe I wouldn't have gotten a concussion. I beg everyone to wear a helmet. I know they don't look the coolest and aren't the most comfortable... but staples hurt a shit load worse. I wore one for a year and then decided it wasn't cool, so I stopped. Worst decision ever. Dialysis was a whole lot less cool.

Wear a fucking helmet. Be safe. Inspect your kickers and jibs before hitting them. Wear your beacons in the backcountry. Ride with friends. Take it easy in the trees, and don't board past your ability.

I'm not going to read a lot of the responses. I wasn't even going to share my story. But the last few have involved helmets.

I had an extremely bad crash, it ended my snowboarding career. I didn't visit this website for years because of it. I don't know what happened. It was spring riding. I remember stopping at the top of the park, adjusting my earbuds, messing with my iPod and the start of my drop in. Nothing after.

I've been told that I hit the kicker, landed (quite nicely, I guess) but then immediately hit a puddle of slush I didn't know about at the bottom of the kicker and went for a ride. So much of a ride that I went tumbling a few hundred feet, hitting my skull on a rail and bashing it open... and kept going. I knocked myself out, and pissed myself. Once I stopped, I got up and I tried to continue snowboarding down the hill and passed out on my face about 50ft later according to a buddy of mine.

I woke up in the hospital with way too many IV's, my head and legs covered in blood. I suffered a concussion and had to get staples to keep my head closed. I also had kidney failure. I was pissing blood for weeks. (hence why i woke up with my legs covered in blood). I had to go in for dialysis a couple times a week for months. Broken bones, all that shit. It sucked.

The medical bills are still being paid off, thanks to no medical insurance.

A helmet wouldn't have kept me from a lot of that... but I wouldn't have bashed my skull open. Who knows, maybe I wouldn't have gotten a concussion. I beg everyone to wear a helmet. I know they don't look the coolest and aren't the most comfortable... but staples hurt a shit load worse. I wore one for a year and then decided it wasn't cool, so I stopped. Worst decision ever. Dialysis was a whole lot less cool.

Wear a fucking helmet. Be safe. Inspect your kickers and jibs before hitting them. Wear your beacons in the backcountry. Ride with friends. Take it easy in the trees, and don't board past your ability.

damn man that sucks. hate to hear that.

i rock a helmet because i'm scared of shit like this. i don't give a fuck what i look like on the mountain, i just want to come down in one piece

Man Alaric, every time I read about your crash it makes me cringe. I don't think I realized that you can't snowboard anymore? Doctor's orders, or are you just done with it?

I know you're a young guy and even with a TBI (Traumitic Brain Injury for those who need clarification), people do come back and ride. Keven Pearce comes to mind. There was a documentary I put up about another up and coming pro snowboarder he suffered a TBI and his long road back to getting on his board. Anyway, neither here nor there. If you can't ride anymore you can't ride anymore. That sucks. Neither one of these guys mentioned are going to be riding at the level they did before the TBI either. Best of luck to you.

As far as helmets go. I ride in primarily primo conditions. Powder. Even so I always rock a helmet. In the backcountry, things are not marked. Sometimes you choose an area that looks great and ends up having less than idea coverage. Taking a tumble in shallow covered rocks can be bad for your problem solving abilities. A helmet does not bother me and is just a little extra protection. It certainly does not make me braver or more reckless.

I beg everyone to wear a helmet. I know they don't look the coolest and aren't the most comfortable... but staples hurt a shit load worse. I wore one for a year and then decided it wasn't cool, so I stopped. Worst decision ever. Dialysis was a whole lot less cool.

Wear a fucking helmet. Be safe. Inspect your kickers and jibs before hitting them. Wear your beacons in the backcountry. Ride with friends. Take it easy in the trees, and don't board past your ability.

I didn't mean to open up a can of worms but I'm glad you posted. Thanks!

One thing though is that I rode for 17 years without a helmet. Hell I used to race for my high school without a helmet (this was back in the early 90's). I used to think they were pretty goofy looking!

Now I realize they are much more comfortable than a toque (no more itchy forehead, cold ear lobes, etc.), and I've got a place to mount a chase cam to show my GF her progression.

Second day out boarding, i'm there with my g/f at the time, my sister, and my best friend... we had just learned to go up and down lifts(definitely with falling involved everytime) and my buddy had ended up behind us. We stopped and sitting at the bottom of the hill, and were chatting (my gf, sis, and i) He comes barreling down the hill at me, slows down a little, and then tries to stop drastically and throw snow on us. He ended up catching his toe edge and LAUNCHED over all three of us, not touching any of us, and catching his chin in the snowbank about 5 feet from any of us... left an indent in the snow from his chin, and split it wide open... funniest/craziest shit i've ever seen. To this day I still don't know how we weren't all taken out by him.

i rock a helmet because i'm scared of shit like this. i don't give a fuck what i look like on the mountain, i just want to come down in one piece

I wish more people had that train of thought, for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by killclimbz

Man Alaric, every time I read about your crash it makes me cringe. I don't think I realized that you can't snowboard anymore? Doctor's orders, or are you just done with it?

It makes me cringe too hahah.
I was out of it per doctors orders for a year. Wasn't allowed to do a whole lot because of the risk of injury to my kidneys and the severity of the TBI. For a couple months I had blackouts randomly. Fortunately those are gone. Honestly, I'm lucky I don't have permanent brain damage from it.

After being forced out for a year, the day I was allowed to go back and hit the mountain, I did. I got to the chairlift, looked up and just couldn't get on. Years later, I'd love to go back and hit the mountain, but now it's a matter of time. I'm a busy guy. And yes, I'm still nervous to even strap on a board.

I can run into a building that is on fire without hesitation, however it scares to me snowboard again. Crazy how life works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by poutanen

I didn't mean to open up a can of worms but I'm glad you posted. Thanks!

No worries man, it needs to be shared. If I get one person to wear a helmet then I'll look at that as as success.